4 relievers the St. Louis Cardinals could target this offseason

LHP Matt Moore

Matt Moore played most recently for the Miami Marlins after being waived by both the Los Angeles Angels and Cleveland Guardians. Across 52.2 innings this past year, Moore had a 2.56 ERA, a 1.158 WHIP, 3.73 FIP, and struck out just over 10 batters per nine innings.

The 34-year-old lefty out of Florida has reverse splits. While right-handed batters typically have an advantage against left-handed pitchers, the opposite is true for Moore. Righties batted .218/.277/.345 against him, and Moore struck out nearly 34% of right-handed batters he faced. He was still serviceable against left-handed batters, but he was most dominant against righties. Those numbers are noticeably better than his career statistics; right-handed batters have a slash line of .246/.327/.413 and have struck out at a 25% rate in his career. 2023 appears to have been a career year for him, specifically against right-handed batters.

The Cardinals' left-handed pitchers as a whole (starters and relievers) allowed a .278 batting average, a .342 on-base percentage, and a .452 slugging percentage against right-handed batters. Some reinforcements in that department would be helpful. JoJo Romero was the primary lefty out of the 'pen for the Cardinals, and while he pitched well against righties, another dominant reliever never hurts.

Without Genesis Cabrera as a backup option and with Zack Thompson fighting for a starting spot this spring, another strong lefty out of the bullpen would be helpful for Oliver Marmol. JoJo Romero could be the primary left-handed reliever, and Matt Moore could provide some depth. Moore was most recently signed to a deal worth $7.5 million in 2023. His price could go up, but the length of the deal would more than likely fall in the 2-year range.

RHP Matt Barnes

In 2023, all Cardinals pitchers struggled mostly against left-handed batters, particularly right-handed pitchers facing lefties. Left-handed batters had a slash line of .290/.358/.479 against right-handed pitchers. This matchup was the second most frequent among handedness matchups, and it was the most troublesome for starters and relievers on the team.

Enter Matt Barnes. Barnes will be in his 11th professional season next year, and the 33-year-old righty out of Connecticut has been strong against both lefties and righties for his career. In 654 at-bats, left-handed batters are slashing .225/.335/.692 and have struck out more than twice as often as they have walked against him. Barnes also shows the ability to be a shutdown reliever against right-handed batters, as he has held them to a .243/.317/.382 slash line and has struck out three times as many righties as he has walked them.

In 2023, Barnes didn't play up to his usual standards. He finished the year with a 5.48 ERA, 4.15 FIP, 1.641 WHIP, and he allowed a near-career-high hits/9 rate of 10.5. He also fought injuries, and he was thus limited to only 21.1 innings on the year. Where Barnes shined brightest, however, was against left-handed batters. They hit .258/.324/.290 against him. His ability to limit extra-base hits and home runs against lefties would be beneficial to a Cardinals' relief core. While Barnes didn't get many strikeouts, he was able to limit walks, and he finished the year with a 2.67 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Matt Barnes was under contract for nearly $10 million last year. Due to his age and his underperformance in 2023, Barnes probably won't sign a contract worth that much. Spotrac has its value at just under $3 million.

RHP Joe Jimenez

Joe Jimenez played most of his career with the Detroit Tigers. He was traded, however, to the Braves before the 2023 season. In 2023, Jimenez 3.04 ERA, 3.59 FIP, 1.154 WHIP, and struck out nearly 12 batters per nine innings. He pitched a total of 56.1 innings this past season. He pitched one inning in the playoffs. He allowed two baserunners, but he didn't allow a run to score and he struck one batter out.

The Cardinals had the fourth-worst WHIP in all of baseball last year at nearly 1.500. Jimenez has done an admirable job at limiting walks and hits while pitching, particularly hits. Adding him to a bullpen that is desperate to keep runners off the bases would help exponentially.

Jimenez features a three-pitch mix that includes a 4-seam fastball, a slider, and a changeup. The right-handed pitcher primarily uses the changeup against right-handed batters, and it has been an effective pitch at limiting hits. His fastball is his most frequently used pitch, and his slider is typically used as his putaway pitch. The slider has a 45.7% whiff rate and a 27.9% putaway rate.

Jimenez has logged a few saves in his career, but he has primarily been used in low-leverage settings. His 0.80 leverage index is significantly below average for the league. Given his solid statistics and ability to limit hits, Jimenez's addition to the bullpen would be an upgrade.

Jimenez's 2023 contract had him being paid $2.765 million in 2023, and he was valued at $5.63 million. His age leads one to believe that his next contract will be multiple years with an AAV of around $8 million.

RHP Keynan Middleton

Keynan Middleton has played for a total of 5 teams in his 7-year career. He started 2023 off with the Chicago White Sox, and he ended the year with the New York Yankees. Middleton pitched to a 3.83 ERA, 1.243 WHIP, and 4.20 FIP in 50.2 innings between those two teams.

Middleton's biggest calling cards would be his ability to strike batters out (30.2% in 2023, 24.2% for his career) and his ability to limit hard contact (31.4% hard-hit rate in 2023, 34.2% for his career). The Cardinals, on the other hand, were in the bottom 10% of the league in limiting hard hits. St. Louis pitchers also struck out only 19.4% of the batters they faced, a number below league average.

Middleton has mostly been used in low-leverage situations, but he, too, has been known to close a game or two out a year. While with the Yankees, Middleton pitched 14.1 innings and had a WHIP below 1.000, struck out 17 batters, and allowed only 7 hits. He did, however, walk 7 batters. His walks could use some improvement, but his ability to limit baserunners outside of the that would be beneficial in a Cardinals bullpen that walked too many runners.

In 2023, Middleton was paid $800,000 since he was still in the arbitration process. His value, however, was estimated at $7.59 million. Middleton will probably be the most expensive of these relievers, but he would absolutely be worth the price tag.